Unfortunately this will not be a full review, because once again, Bandai puts out a shoddy product with issues, none of the issues are really deal breakers, but theres so much ‘wtfs’ with this disk, I just can’t do a full review of it, because I half suspect the disk will be recalled, so instead of a full review, I’ll just be looking at what works, and what doesn’t, and what is wrong.

While the majority of these problems are specific to the Blu-ray version due to formats, chances are one specific problem will carry over to the DVD).

First, the video quality is decent, maybe a bit above average, but I was expecting more.

Second, we get the new Bandai dub, the Manga UK dub, and the Japanese language track.  All are normal Dolby tracks, because rather than give us a quality dual layer disk for the product, it’s single layer only…yay.

Third, the UK dub’s pitch is wrong, so everything sounds deep and mechanically distorted.

This isn’t a 40 dollar product, and frankly, it’s an embarrassing try by Bandai.

Quick comparison

Original Japanese disk Audio- PCM, Dolby EX, DTS-ES, and Dolby (all in Japanese)
Newer Japanese disk Audio- Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD MA, Dolby EX, and DTS-ES (all Japanese)
American Disk- Dolby (English Bandai, English Manga UK, and Japanese)

This disk just pissed me off, and I’d assume the problems with the Manga UK dub crossover to the DVD.

If you just want a disk with an English dub and the Japanese track and don’t notice audio quality, and you don’t care about the Manga UK dub, chances are this disk will be fine for you, everyone else, need not apply.

Also, a weird thing, this disk apparently was made by Bandai, but Bandai doesn’t hold the copyright on it, everything is copyrighted to Go Fish (Dreamworks arthouse label that did the original DVD), so I’m a little curious the story…  did Bandai actually license it from Dreamworks, or how did that work? …..am I supposed to complain to Dreamworks about the product?…  well regardless, shame on Bandai for a disk with just to many problems.

I’ll do a full review when/if the product is fixed.

Also,  just to ask the obvious question once again… why if they had the UK dub, which has the primary characters largely played by the same actors, did Bandai redub this?

I can confirm the added scenes for Adventure Children Complete are being dubbed by the same English cast that did the original English dub as we speak.

I love Futurama, but honestly, DTV 2 and 3 felt a little weak, especially after the first one being just amazing.

Let’s take a look at this reimagination, see what works, and see what doesn’t.

First thing, underneath everything else at the very bottom the entire first episode is embedded dubbed.

Let’s start with the packaging. Negima!? comes in the modern Funimation ‘dual thinpak’ packaging.  A soft papery box with 2 thinpaks inside of it.  Each thinpak has a single disk in it, and this covers the first half (13 episodes) of the series.  On the cover of each volume you get the girls and Negi dressed in (fashionable?) clothes.  Each cover has 3 or 4 people on it, and each cover is reversible.  The back has episode titles (long titles in this series, with many being over a dozen words), and the second disk lists extras also.  I’d also like to add kudos to Funimation on the reversible covers.  This time around the reversible are themed exactly the same as the fronts.  So if one of your favorite characters are on a reversible cover you can reverse that one without making them not match, or look out of place in any way.  Also, just to comment…  imagine the front cover of the box itself, with only Negi and Asuna, and imagine Asuna saying “POW! Right in the Kisser”…. can’t unsee that now can you?

The menu is nice and clean.  Nice big letters with a bit of a chalk theme to it.  Only issue I found, the Extras menu does not list the commentary for episode 12.  That is listed in the Episodes section under episode 12 itself.  Not a big deal, but I prefer when stuff like that is listed under extras.

Negima!? is an interesting show to review, because it is heavily advertised as (and believed to be) more Negima…  but it isn’t.  It’s basically a full reimagining with seemingly very little of the specific stuff we expect from anything with the words ‘Ken Akamatsu’ on them (although I haven’t kept up with Negima in manga form, so I guess it’s possible this has changed, although I am aware the story has apparently gotten quite deep in the manga).  When you think of Ken Akamatsu you generally think of two specific things.  Slapstick style comedy and the female body (his most popular work, Love Hina, was based very nearly purely on the main character slipping, pulling off clothing, then getting punched into orbit).  Negima!? on the other hand is quite a bit different.  The story has a bit of mystery to it beyond being used as as gag.  The jokes are often wordplay and less slapsticky.  Perversity isn’t nearly as prevalent (in fact, I can’t recall Negi magically sneezing Asuna’s clothes off a single time on either disk).  But in no way is it bad.  It’s just very different from what Negima and Akamatsu fans may be expecting.  I found myself enjoying the popculture references (both Japanese and American) prevalent throughout the series (added to in the dub, look out for visual cameos by Queen and Cartman hidden…sorta, along with a cameo by a well known meme, which you can see in the screencap under this section of the review).  I know alot of people who saw this show and didn’t like it, but I couldn’t help smiling and laughing constantly while watching it.  It’s something new for Negima fans, and maybe something for potential fans, or people who long ago decided the Akamatsu style of comedy wasn’t for them.  If there is any issue with the series it’d be that some characters are shown so often and so in depth, that many of the other girls you honestly feel like they aren’t really in the show beyond extended cameos.  I recommend the show highly, when I’ve been feeling rundown because of the end of a particularly long and hard class semester, Negima!? refreshed me and gave me some much needed laughter.

Everything has a negative, and this set’s is most definitely it’s video.  Sometimes it looks gorgeous, often is looks decent, and sometimes, you wanna smack someone.  The video is 480i anamorphic widescreen, but there are plenty of issues that are, frankly, unacceptable for a show that was on the air two years ago.  Rainbowing, quality often jumping from great to horrible shot by shot, and numerous other video errors cause the quality to jump around like crazy.  The issues seem to be with the masters though, not with Funimation’s encoding.  It’s still completely watchable, it’s just disappointing that something clearly went on behind the scenes that gave us anything but pristine video for such a modern show (One of the more obvious examples can be seen directly under this section, with a screencap I took purely by chance while watching it).

Audio is as good as you’d expect.  Everything is clean and clear.  Both tracks are Dolby 2.0 at 192k.  This is one of the cleaner recent Funi boxset tracks at that bitrate.   You never have to question what someone is saying over an effect, and everything is clear and crisp.  While no doubt the audio could be better, most people will likely never notice any issues.

The dub for Negima!? is quite good.  The vast majority of the cast from the first series are back, with a few replacements (although if you saw the recent Spring and Summer OVA episodes in English, you’ve already heard the new people).  The dub is very enjoyable, to the extent I stopped flipping back and forth between the Japanese and English audio.  The dub is rewritten to add a few more American jokes that generally fit very well (including a longer Dr. Seuss joke regarding food that ends with a green eggs and ham gag).  It’s a very good dub, just a few more things to say. First all the songs are dubbed.  I know alot of people don’t enjoy dubbed songs on the English track, but I enjoyed these.  1000% Sparking is dubbed for all of it’s appearances (unlike the Japanese version there is only one version of this song though).  The ‘temporary’ opening for episode 13 (it also shows up on 14, but that isn’t on this set) is also dubbed and enjoyable.  The first ending, Hoshizora Letter is dubbed for it’s few appearances and is soft and relaxing.  The high point is the second ending though, A-LY-YA! English version will really have you nodding your head back and forth with the beats (this song also went thru multiple Japanese versions, and there is a single English version).  Going back to voices,  there are two specific roles I feel the need to comment on though.  First, Negi after something significant happens to him in episode 12 (no spoilers here folks) in episode 12 this…other Negi, is played by his normal actor Greg Ayres.  For episode 13 though, the role goes to his brother, Chris Ayres, doing a nearly spot on impression of his brothers Negi (either that or they screwed up with the credits…not sure which).  The other thing I feel I must comment on… Chris Sabat as the narrator.  Sabat really goes nuts in this role, and I honestly just enjoyed everytime he showed up, because every time the narrator talks, he seems to go a bit more insane (not to mention breaking the fourth wall and talking to the characters once in awhile).

Extras on this set…  here’s another low point for the set that has a few moments of greatness.  We get no clean openings here despite the first opening going thru a few visual and audio changes (on the Japanese side).  We get the first ending clean, along with one version of the second ending (which went thru nearly a half dozen variations in this set alone, both visual and audio).  The version we get has a purple and blue flannel type pattern background, along with Asuna and Konoka dancing.  I’m disappointed we didn’t get all the variations we’ve seen thus far (I can understand not seeing the most recent, since it might show up on the next set, but a few of them I doubt we will be seeing again).  The real meat of the extras on this set is called ‘Notes From the Classroom’.  This has screencaps you can scroll through of when there was text onscreen.  It doesn’t have every moment, since many of those were self explanatory, but it goes thru all the ones with jokes regarding other Japanese shows, and explains them very clearly (no shows have their name blanked out, so if a joke has to do with Zatch Bell or Legend of the Galactic Heroes, you won’t have to guess because of blanked out letters).  This is a great extra, and I appreciate having the notes be in a separate extra where I can sit back and read them with a small screencap showing me what it is talking about (the episode is also listed).

Negima!? is a nice take on a show and franchise many of us already know.  It goes off in different directions but is some of the most fun I’ve had watching anime this year.  (It’s currently locked in an epic battle with Lucky Star and some of School Rumble for the position).  I recommend Ken Akamatsu and Negima fans pick this up with the understanding the comedy is quite different from what you’d expect.  While the lack of some clean openings and endings in the extras is a small issue, and the video a larger issue for me and no doubt others (although I’m sure others will also say there are no issues, which will probably lead to a more enjoyable experience for them since they won’t notice the video issues).  Regardless of these issues, anyone who wants to sit back and laugh…  I can’t stress how much of a must have this.

Show: A (Funny, funny, funny.  That is all that needs to be said… well, and oh yeah, there are a few decent fights also)
Packaging: B+ (What has become a standard for Funimation.  Wish the box would be a bit more sturdy, but it isn’t a big deal.  Extra points for reversible covers that match the normal ones, so you can flip one without flipping the other and have it be noticeable)
Video Quality: C+ (Shakey video quality.  This has been one of the harder video grades I’ve given because it jumps so much.  Throughout watching when I was trying to decide what I’d end up giving it I jumped everywhere between D- and B, but decided to stick to my orignal decision that a C equals ‘watchable, but not good.  The video here is definately above that, but in no way good, and the fact that the show is recent makes me shakey about giving it as high as a C+)
Audio Quality: B+ (Good audio, but nothing amazing)
English Dub: A (This is the kind of dub you’d show to someone who can’t stand dubs.  Every role stands out a little bit, even if one or two can grate a bit.  Special note on the narrator.  Rewritten where needed, but never leaving the spirit of the original.)
Extras: B (The notes on some of the Japanese text jokes is a truly awesome extra, and despite the lack of extras, and missing clean openings and endings, compelled me to rate the extras above average.  Plus a commentary.  I’m hoping in the next set we get bloopers, like we did for the original Negima anime)

Overall (not an average): A- (A great show.  The strength of the show itself lifts the overall ranking up despite video issues).

Really looking forward to more of Negima!?  Slightly disappointed the video isn’t as good as it should have been, but the show is just so enjoyable that I can’t let that stop me from enjoying it.  Although I can definitely understand why so many people seem to dislike it, it isn’t what you expect when you hear the title Negima, but I really suggest giving it a fair chance and I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Sorry for any formatting changes, new version of Wordpress made some changes that I’m getting used to.

Gallery under ads. All caps are lossless PNGs taken in VLC, feel free to request more. (Caps are sized 853×480 so as to display properly on computer monitors, as encoded the disks are 720×480, but having the caps be 853×480 emulates how they are meant to be seen using the widescreen ‘flag’ put on the DVD). {I was having so much fun watching the show I went a bit crazy with the caps this time, also the flash uploader works again, so enjoy all the caps}

Some caps from the menu, the opening, the first episode, one of the episode introductions, and the pilot video in the gallery.

This set has some REAL heft to it.  One of the heavier DVD boxes I can remember.  Box is really nice, has some texture to it.

Visually, it’s probably the best the show has ever looked.  Will it win any awards for visuals, not at all.  But definately the best we can expect the show to ever look.  (Without having checked stuff in depth, I’d give the video quality a solid B, or even higher if you take into account its age).

Audio is just great.  There’s depth to the audio that I never remember existing before.

I’ll try and do an in depth review right when I get back on Saturday/Sunday.

But this is a great set and worth the money, especially if you have memories of the show from when you were a kid.

All caps are lossless PNGs taken in VLC, more will be done for the review. (Caps are sized 640×480 so as to display properly on computer monitors, as encoded the disks are 720×480, but having the caps be 640×480 emulates how they will appear on your television screen).

Viz is gonna start airring Shippuden almost day and date with the Japanese airrings and try and catch up with earlier episodes as fast as they can.

Frankly it seems a bit stupid to do it that way since it’s a plot based show and the early Shippuden haven’t gotten an American release yet (and who knows what this says about the potential for the show on TV).

Viz to Stream Naruto Within 1 Week of Japanese Airring {Anime News Network}

Update-  Tv Tokyo will be putting new Naruto on Crunchyroll subbed an HOUR after it airs on Japanese TV.

TV Tokyo to Also Stream Naruto Through Crunchyroll {Anime News Network}

Far easier to write than my review last week (what shonen adventure show ISN’T easy to lay down and watch?), let’s see if this dog can hunt.

Starting with the packaging, Hunter x Hunter is a digipak.  Slide the digipak out of it’s cardboard sleeve and unfold it and you 3 disks.  I’m not a fan of digipaks because they tend to wear down quicker than plastic.  This is a pretty standard digipak that most of us have in our collection for something.  The cardboard sleeve that holds the digipak is a bit different though.  On the front of the digipak, an X has been cut out.  Not the entire X though, there is yellow ‘warning tape’ made out of the remaining cardboard with the shows name on it, and on the inside of the sleeve theres thin clear plastic to cover the X design.  It’s interesting and neat, but I wonder if this didn’t add to the cost of the set, and wonder how well the thing yellow cardboard ‘tape’ design will last, along with the plastic.  Some of the art on the digipak appears to be taken from the show, while others appear to be high quality promotional art.

Menu is clean and basic, does it’s job with no flash, but the artwork and the animated symbols in the background add a nice touch.  Always happy to see a menu that is basically impossible to misunderstand or get turned around (after the Death Note movie extra’s menu, I was a bit scared Viz might start doing stuff like that more often).

Hunter x Hunter is another in the long line of traditional shonen adventure shows.  Stop me if you haven’t heard this before.  Gon is a boy who lives with his aunt after both of his parents were killed years ago.  Someone comes along and Gon finds out that his father isn’t dead, but is actually the world’s greatest hunter.  Gon decides he’s gonna go off and find his dad, AND be a hunter.  Along the way he has adventures, makes friends and has battles.  But let’s be honest, we keep seeing this type of show because we all love them, and we love the characters that inhibit the world.  Coming from the creator of Yu Yu Hakusho (a personal favorite of mine), I’ve been looking forward to an English release of the Hunter x Hunter anime for a long time, and frankly, never thought it would come out.  I’m still a bit confused WHY we are getting the show.  Ending in early 2001, the show is ancient by modern standards.  It doesn’t seem to have any sort of TV deal, and isn’t nearly long enough to be a long time money maker even if it did.  Assuming Viz finishes the show and releases every bit of Hunter animation that exists in similar boxsets, we will ge 3 more TV boxes, and 3 OVA boxes.  I’m not complaining mind you, just a bit confused at the reasoning for the show coming out at this time.

Video quality is about what you’d expect for a shonen show pre digital animation.  Unfortunately the masters don’t seem to be in the best shape.  Colors seem to have faded, there are visible rips and tears in the video on occasion.  Yet despite all this the show is still very watchable and older animation like this gives you (or at least me, maybe not you) a bit of a warm feeling and lets you look past the flaws knowing that at the very least, there haven’t been any haphazard attempts to fix the video.  There are a few random issues caused either by interlacing errors, or just bad encoding (one of the better examples is the first episodes eyecatch, both it and the second episodes eyecatch, without the error, are in the gallery at the bottom as an example).  Also, without having seen the original Japanese airring/disks, I can’t be 100% sure, but some titling appears to have been changed for the dub, along with the episode titles and such as is expected (examples in gallery again).

Audio is a bit better but still about what you’d expect.  Nothing special here, just classic late 90s audio (this review is beginning to make me feel old, calling the late 90s classic…).  Both English and Japanes audio get 256k Dolby tracks.  No sign only sub track for dub watchers as is the norm for Viz.  Subtitles are yellow subs with a black border, and I noticed for internal character narration the font is slightly italicized.

The dub is done by Ocean through Blue Water.  The dub sticks to the Japanese well, but often rewrites lines to make them sound more clear in English, but the overall dub quality isn’t quite as good as some of the better quality ‘average’ dubs of recent memory, but it isn’t that bad (although I’ll be sticking with the Japanese for Hunter thank you very much).

Bonus materials are..meh.  15 storyboards.  That’s all…

It’s a decent set for an older show that the majority of people who wanted it probably figured would never get a release, so I can’t be to hard on it, especially since it’s well priced for 15 episodes (list price is $50).  Hopefully Viz releases all of it, and the OVAs, but I guess it’ll be up to sales, still hoping though.

Show: B+ (A very good shonen show that has decent quality animation, a good story, and enjoyable characters)
Packaging: B- (A standard digipak with the slipcover customized.  Not my favorite type of packaging, but more than enough for the show.  Only issue may be if the packaging can last though)
Video Quality: C+ (Decent video quality, watchable, but definately showing it’s age.  Picture is a bit shakey also.)
Audio Quality: B- (Nothing special, but not bad.)
English Dub: C (The dub is average, maybe a bit below, in every meaning of the term.  Nothing wrong with the dub mind you, just nothing inherently good.)
Extras: D (A few storyboards and a few trailers thrown in for Viz shows and manga)

Overall (not an average): B+ (I’m a sucker for adventure shows, what can I say.  Relatively well priced, and a good quality show more than makes up for any flaws in audio or video).

It’s to bad that likely quite a few people will avoid this for fear Viz will cancel/stop releases like they have for some other shows, thereby possibly causing the cancellation due to lack of sales.  I’d hope people will support it so we keep getting more.  At the very least I’m very hopefully we will get the 4 boxes making up the TV show.

Gallery under ad. All caps are lossless PNGs taken in VLC, feel free to request more. (Caps are sized 640×480 so as to display properly on computer monitors, as encoded the disks are 720×480, but having the caps be 640×480 emulates how they will appear on your television screen).

No idea as of yet if it will be a coproduction with Japan like the original, but apparently the designs will be very similiar, and the original series director is involved in some fashion. 3 seasons of 26 episodes each.

Original French Source {I’ve double checked this and confirmed with multiple people whom I trust that this is in fact real}